Moncton’s Al-Pack Creating Up To Nine Jobs With Government Support
MONCTON – Al-Pack Enterprises is creating up to nine jobs and expanding its operations, it was announced Monday. The packaging manufacturer is receiving $360,000 from provincial and federal governments.
“This investment is a really integral part of growth in Canada,” said CEO Louis LeBlanc. “We deal with all the major retailers in Canada. So for us, it’s really a capacity thing. This really helps us to promote our company in different areas in Canada and the U.S.”
The jobs are mostly in administrative positions as well as work in the warehouse. Hiring for the nine jobs are almost completed, LeBlanc said.
“[They’re] technical jobs specifically for running equipment,” he said. “We’ve also had an acquisition in the process so there are some synergies for some of the jobs that are created over the time. But we’re very close to completing the nine jobs that were requested.”
The $1-million expansion also includes investment in equipment to manufacture flex-tie and draw-string garbage bags, specifically in compost and polyethylene forms, for the Canadian market. This will add one bagging line and a production line to the company’s capacity.
The provincial government, through Opportunities NB (ONB), is providing a non-repayable contribution of $200,000 to suport the job creation. The addition of the jobs will generate $5.8 million of GDP for the province and $731,250 in personal tax revenue over six years.
The federal government, through the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), is providing a $160,000 repayable contribution for the project through its Business Development Program.
“The original non-repayable contribution (from ONB) was in 2017, so we think that the expansion and bag lines will be all in place. The expansion is done, and the bag lines probably another month or two. The equipment is here, we just have to install it,” LeBlanc said.
Al-Pack began as a distribution company in 1995 and switched to manufacturing packaging materials. Its products include recycling and compostable bags sold in retail locations in Atlantic Canada, including Sobeys and Atlantic Superstore.
They’re also available in Wal-Mart locations across the country and has some presence in the U.S. It currently has around 70 employees in New Brunswick.
“It’s been a roller coaster expansion over the last 22 years. There have been at least a dozen critical times where we expanded our company to maintain the sales and the job creation that we’ve evolved in,” LeBlanc said.
“Supporting New Brunswick businesses as they grow, reinvest in our province and create jobs, is important to your government’s multi-year economic growth plan,” said Finance Minister Cathy Rogers in a press release, speaking on behalf of Economic Development Minister Francine Landry, who is also responsible for ONB.
“I am pleased to see Al-Pack continue to grow and succeed right here in New Brunswick,” she said.